The National Assembly has given the Ministry of Health and representatives from the Social Health Authority (SHA) a two-week deadline to discuss and present a detailed report on the key challenges facing the new healthcare system.
This directive came from the Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetangula, during a Mid-term retreat in Naivasha.
Wetangula instructed Robert Pukose, the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Health, to meet with SHA representatives and prepare a comprehensive report to be tabled before the house by February 11.
He emphasized the need for action, saying, “I hereby direct the Chairperson, Hon. Robert Pukose, to obtain a transcribed Hansard report of all issues raised by Members of Parliament in this session and hold a meeting with the Ministry/SHA management next week.”
At the retreat, members of Parliament expressed their concerns regarding the challenges facing the Social Health Authority.
The issues raised centered on poor communication, insufficient funding, and a lack of clear implementation frameworks for the healthcare system.
To address these issues and increase the number of Kenyans registered under the SHA, the government has recently adopted a multi-faceted approach.
This seems to have yielded some positive results, with the health ministry confirming that by January 22, at least 18 million Kenyans had registered for the SHA, which is also known as Taifa Care.
However, despite the impressive registration numbers, a new challenge has emerged: a significant number of the newly registered individuals are not paying the required contributions.
This, along with a substantial Ksh29 billion debt left by the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to private hospitals, has created major problems for service delivery under the SHA system.
Acknowledging the difficulties, SHA Acting CEO Robert Ingasira appealed to Members of Parliament to act as goodwill ambassadors for the new healthcare system to ensure its success.
“I thank all the members who worked closely with us to increase the numbers, and now we stand at 22 million registered members under the program.
There is still room to register more Kenyans,” he said. He also pointed out, “There are challenges, but we are working tirelessly to resolve them.”
In a move aimed at demonstrating good faith, the Ministry of Health announced it would withdraw trespass charges against Grace Njoki, a woman who had made headlines along with other frustrated patients after storming Afya House on January 15 to protest issues with the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) system.
The group of patients, some with children, had disrupted a Ministry of Health media briefing that was intended to update Kenyans on the progress of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) initiative.
On the final day of the retreat, Medical Services Principal Secretary Dr. Harry Kimtai also called on lawmakers to intensify efforts to encourage more Kenyans to enroll in the SHA program, highlighting the need to increase registration numbers for the system to be sustainable.
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